The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) announces the availability of one-year administrative supplements for NINDS-funded grantees to stimulate new interdisciplinary collaborations in translational research. The proposed studies must be within the scope of the peer-reviewed activities specified within the NINDS parent award and collaborators may not have a significant history of joint interactions.

Background

Collaborative activities are, by nature, more difficult to coordinate and oversee than activities led by a single investigator. The fiscal constraints of the current climate make it increasingly difficult for individual investigators to advance in their careers or remain productive without outside collaborations. In 2007, the NIH implemented a new policy to recognize multiple principal investigators on grant submissions (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-017.html) in support of team-led science.

The wealth of basic research discoveries on numerous neurological disorders makes this an opportune time to stimulate the translation of these discoveries into clinical applications. The success of this type of collaboration is often dependent upon the pairing of investigators with different backgrounds and expertise. This program seeks to support new interactions of this type that will move basic research activities towards translational outcomes. It is anticipated that these administrative supplements will be successful in generating pilot data for translational R21s, U01s, or U54s, such as those overseen by NINDS’ Office of Translational Research (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/areas/technology_development/index.htm), or for new R01 or P01 grant submissions to the NIH.

At the end of the activity, supported investigators will be required to submit a brief (1-2 page) summary of the findings, relevant publications, and future plans for the collaboration. Sharing of any resource developed with these funds should also be described within the summary.

Before submitting an application for a collaborative administrative supplement, all grantees should communicate with their Program Director(s) to discuss the planned application.

The proposed collaboration must be new. Investigators with a significant history of collaboration (including co-authored publications, excepting review articles) are not eligible to apply jointly for this supplement. Likewise, the collaboration should not already be apparent and supported through a funded NIH activity. The new, collaborating investigator must have an independent appointment with his or her own laboratory space and not be a postdoctoral fellow or other research personnel within the laboratory of the NINDS funded Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI). The pairing of a basic with an applied (clinical, epidemiologic) investigator is encouraged, but not required. The pairing of a senior with a more junior investigator is also not required; investigators at all stages in their careers are encouraged to participate.

The application should propose either functional, mechanistic, or pre-clinical activities designed to move a basic discovery towards a translational endpoint in the near future. Proposals focused on understanding the biological mechanism underlying a clinical observation would also be responsive. Importantly, the clinical relevance should be well-defined and movement towards this goal should be supported within the proposal. The uniqueness and interdisciplinary nature of the research activity should also be highlighted, as well as its relationship to the parent grant. The proposed studies must be within the scope of the peer-reviewed activities specified on the parent award. Proposals should not be designed to recover funds from review-recommended or administrative cuts to the parent award or provide cost extensions to activities that failed to re-compete in the peer review process, or change the parent grant from a single PD/PI to Multiple PD/PI award. In addition, they should not be used to support incremental basic advances in a field (e.g., refinement of a signaling pathway), technology development, or generation of a standard transgenic animal model without immediate translational impact. These supplements are also not intended to support clinical interventions. Imaging studies involving human subjects are allowed as long as the clinical protocol is Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved or under IRB review at the time of submission.

This program will support administrative supplements to Research Project (R00 and R01), conditional seven-year Javits award for highly meritorious applications (R37), and Program Project (P01) awards to NINDS grantees. Parent awards must be actively funded through July 31, 2011 in order to be eligible. Grants that are in a no-cost extension period (beginning on or before August 1, 2011) will not be considered for support under this supplement program. Only one CAPTR supplement request may be submitted per PD/PI per year. If both collaborating investigators are PD/PIs on independent NINDS R00, R01, R37 or P01 grants, they can submit a joint supplement application which requests support to both awards (See “How to Apply”, “Submitting an Application”, and “Budget Information” sections below).

Resubmitted CAPTR applications are encouraged as long as the applicant has discussed how the weaknesses of the original submission will be addressed with their NINDS Program Director. It should be noted in the cover letter that the application is a resubmission.

IMPORTANT: The research proposed by the NIH grantee in the supplement application must be within the original scope of the NIH-supported grant project. The funding mechanism being used to support this program, administrative supplements, can be used to cover cost increases that are associated with achieving certain new research objectives as long as they are within the original scope of the project. Any cost increases need to result from making modifications to the project in order to take advantage of opportunities that would increase the value of the project consistent with its originally approved objectives and purposes.

How to Apply

This is a one-time announcement. Applications must be received on or before April 26, 2010. Do not send applications to the Center for Scientific Review. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications electronically as an e-mail attachment in PDF format [with clearly visible signatures from the PD/PI and Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)] to the individual and address below. Applications may be submitted in paper format if electronic submission is not available. Collaborative activities that involve more than one administrative supplement request (associated with different NINDS grants and, potentially, different institutions) should note this clearly in the submission. In these cases, only one complete application should be submitted along with a separate cover letter, budget page with justification, face page, and any biosketches/letters/resource pages pertinent to the additional site. The role of each site should be clearly delineated within the body of the application.

1. Cover letter requesting the supplement, identifying this notice, the number and title of the parent grant, and providing full contact information on the PD/PI. A separate title for the collaborative activity should also be provided in this letter. (If the activity involves the submission of two independent administrative supplement requests, the name, institution, and NINDS grant number of the collaborating PD/PI should also be provided, as well as the additional documents listed under “How to Apply” above.)
2. Face page (Form Page 1).

The title of the project (Box 1) should be the title of the parent award.

This Notice (number and title) should be cited in Box 2, and the “yes” box should be checked.

The Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) must be the same as the PD/PI on the parent award. For grants awarded as Multiple PD/PI, the current contact PD/PI must be listed on the administrative supplement application. Subproject PIs on P01 awards are not eligible to apply for these supplements.

The remaining items on the face page should be filled out according to the PHS 398 application instructions.

3. Form Page 2 (Summary, Relevance, Project/Performance Sites, Senior/Key Personnel, Other Significant Contributors, and Human Embryonic Stem Cells) from PHS 398. The project description is that of the administrative supplement, not the parent grant. The new co-investigator(s) or collaborator(s) should be noted within the Additional Project/Performance Site Location (if applicable) and Scientific/Key Personnel sections.

4. Biosketch(es) for any new key co-investigator(s) or collaborator(s) should be provided which are not listed within the parent grant(s). NIH now encourages applicants to limit the list of selected peer-reviewed publications or manuscripts in press to no more than 15. A letter of commitment from the new participant(s) should also be included as indicated below.

5. Resources page(s) for new key personnel not named in the parent grant(s).

6. Proposed budget for the supplement with a budget justification that details the items requested. See “Budget Information” section below.

7. Proposed research activities performed under the supplement should consist of items 2-3 (Specific aims and Research Strategy) delineated under the PHS 398 Research Plan and should not exceed five pages. Font size restrictions apply as designated with the PHS 398 (rev. 6/2009) instructions.

The research plan for the supplement should include Specific Aims (Section 2 of the PHS 398 Research Plan), and Research Strategy (Section 3, includes Significance, Innovation, and Approach). The relationship of the collaborative activity to the parent grant should be included under the research strategy. If the collaboration involves more than one administrative supplement request, the contribution of each laboratory should be clearly delineated within this section.

Bibliography and References Cited (Section 5 of the PHS 398 Research Plan) should be included.

Use of human subjects in the proposed research should be discussed in detail, adhering to instructions under Sections 6-9 of the PHS 398 Research Plan. Any differences in the use of human subjects or specimens between the administrative supplement activity and the parent grant should be noted. When appropriate, details should be provided on the protection of human subjects and inclusion of women, children, and minorities. Additional guidance on Human Subjects Research is provided under Part II of the PHS 398 instructions (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.pdf). If non-exempt human subject analyses are proposed, a clinical or study protocol and associated consent forms should be provided along with the status of IRB approval.

Select Agent Research, Consortium/Contractual Arrangements, Letters of Support, and Resource Sharing Plan sections should be completed as described in the PHS 398 instructions. A letter from the new, collaborating investigator should be provided and include a discussion of his/her involvement in the activity.

A Multiple Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) Leadership Plan is not required. Appendices and supplemental material (excluding clinical protocols and consent forms) will not be accepted.

Review Criteria

Applications will be reviewed administratively by a committee of NIH staff. Awards will be determined on the basis of scientific merit, translational impact, potential to promote new interdisciplinary interactions, innovation, programmatic relevance, and availability of funds. The added value of the underlying activity to the parent grant(s) and its realistic scope given the one year commitment will also be taken into consideration. All funding decisions are final and not subject to appeal. The anticipated awards will be made no later than September 30, 2010.

All appropriate IRB and IACUC approvals must be in place prior to a supplement award being made.

Budget and Funding Information

Applicants may request up to $50,000 in direct costs [excluding consortium Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs] for the one-year duration of an administrative supplement under this program. At least one investigator within the collaboration must be the Program Director/Principal Investigator on an NINDS supported grant. This PD/PI can either use the funds to support his or her part of the collaborative activity, the participation of a collaborator/co-investigator at their home institution, or subcontract to an outside investigator(s) to support his/her involvement. The maximum direct cost request for an individual NINDS grantee is $50,000. If two NINDS grantees are submitting a joint CAPTR application, each can request up to $50,000 direct costs as an administrative supplement to each of two independent grants. The maximum direct cost request for a joint CAPTR application cannot exceed $100,000; and each individual PD/PI can only participate in one CAPTR submission per year. The duration of each award is limited to one year. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs will be paid at the full, negotiated rate. Applicants should provide a detailed budget justification for personnel costs, supplies, and other expenses. Salary support for the PD/PI, co-investigators, and collaborators is not permitted but can be requested for technicians, graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and/or other research personnel. The purchase of equipment is not allowed. In fiscal year 2010, the NINDS plans to commit up to $1,000,000 total costs towards this administrative supplement program, with a maximum of 13 awards anticipated.

Inquiries

Applicants are encouraged to discuss their plans for responding to this Notice by phone or e-mail. Scientific inquiries should be directed to the NINDS Program Director who oversees the parent grant associated with the administrative supplement request. General inquiries about the CAPTR supplement program can be directed to: